


All the Time in the Universe

by anisstaranise



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Christmas Party, Friends to Lovers, M/M, New York, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 17:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13036029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anisstaranise/pseuds/anisstaranise
Summary: An hour into the party, he was miserable- and the selections of wine and liquor weren’t all that great. Whoever had the honours of organizing the event also had to work with a tight budget, it seemed.This was a mistake.





	All the Time in the Universe

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Seblaine Snow Ball 2017](http://seblaineaffairs.tumblr.com/tagged/snow-ball).

_Christmas is the day that holds all time together.  
_ —Alexander Smith

This was a mistake.

That was Sebastian’s recurrent thought of the night as he swerved away from another drunken colleague who had tried to grab him by the tie, to drag him under the nearest mistletoe and steal a kiss. He gracefully wove out of his colleague’s way- Gina from Marketing this time. Earlier it had been Mateo from Accounting. He scoffed, shaking his head. Sebastian wasn’t interested in being objectified as a check on someone’s bucket list next to “kissed a gay guy”.

“This was a mistake,” he chastised himself for the umpteenth time, kicking himself for agreeing to attend his office’s Christmas party. He could have been at home, chasing away the winter cold from his bones with a glass of his favourite scotch.

But there had been this voice at the back of his mind urging him on.

_Go_ , it said. _You must go_.

Sebastian sighed.

An hour into the party, he was miserable- and the selections of wine and liquor weren’t all that great. Whoever had the honours of organizing the event also had to work with a tight budget, it seemed.

This was a mistake.

He snaked through the crowd and headed towards the exit; the entire second floor of the building had been commandeered to host the party, the chairs and the long meeting tables pushed to the far wall to make room for the party. As he headed towards the door, Sebastian passed the refreshments table, its surface covered with finger food and dips and a large punch bowl, filled to the brim with eggnog. But no sooner had he stepped through the door leading to the elevators, a body smacked hard into his, reeling him backward a few paces as his fingers found purchase on the doorframe that kept him from falling.

His eyes were quick to refocus on the mass that had rammed into him, sights falling on the dark strings of curls down to the brightly coloured- and ridiculously patterned- Christmas sweater.

“Sebastian. I’m so sorry.”

Despite being winded from the brief impact, Sebastian smiled. He smiled a lot around Blaine.

Blaine Anderson, with his curls and tacky sweaters.

Sebastian had been with the company for a little over a year now. Human Resources. Although he wasn’t much of a social person, he enjoyed his job. The recruiting and selection processes, the training and development of new employees.

Blaine had been one of the select few hired the previous month. The new R&D guy- or so he was known. He had an impressive CV but even before going through his documents, Sebastian felt a certain pull towards him. A fascination- captivated him from the moment his eyes clapped on the name; Blaine Anderson.

“What’s the rush, Anderson? Afraid the ‘nog will run out?”

Blaine turned away shyly before bringing his eyes back to Sebastian. Blaine’s eyes were gorgeous- like the colour of warm honeyed tea, Sebastian thought.

“Actually, I was looking for you,” Blaine said.

Sebastian felt a light heat creep up the back of his neck. They had flirted back and forth from the first day Blaine had reported for work; the lingering looks, the lascivious winks (on Sebastian’s part). The fact that Blaine had deliberately sought Sebastian out pleased him and gave him this violent urge to blush.

Blaine held out his hand, a shiny gift bag hung loosely from his fingers. “For you.”

Sebastian reached for the bag carefully, surprise caught in his chest.

“Thank you,” he breathed.

“Merry Christmas, Sebastian.”

Sebastian whistled low. “Now I feel like a jerk. I didn’t get you anything.”

Blaine waved a hand, dismissing Sebastian, smiling. “It’s no big deal.”

Then, Blaine’s smile faded. He started worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, eyes darting nervously around the room, darting up the ceiling and down to the carpeted floor.

“Actually-” Blaine said, his smile returning. He said ‘actually’ a lot, Sebastian observed, like he always had something to say but was constantly second-guessing his need to say it. The ‘actually’ would come as an announcement of his final decision, he supposed.

“Yeah?”

“- if you really feel bad about not getting me anything- how ‘bout something in exchange instead?”

Sebastian smiled. He had come to know Blaine’s flirtatious lilt.

“What did you have in mind?”

Blaine smile grew brighter- if ever that was possible, Sebastian thought. Rather shyly, Blaine pointed to something above him, dangling over them from the doorframe.

A mistletoe.

Sebastian felt his lips pull into a wider smile and gingerly stepped closer to Blaine whose head was already tilting, anticipating.

With the gift bag still in hand, Sebastian reached to cup the back of his neck letting his fingers graze gently over Blaine’s skin- first his jawline then up his cheek- then pulling closer until their lips met.

Sebastian kissed Blaine.

It’s been a long time coming, he thought as he kissed Blaine.

Blaine was kissing Sebastian back in earnest.

They kissed, and kissed. And they kissed.

And then-

Time stopped.

_In the falling quiet there was no sky or earth, only snow lifting in the wind, frosting the window glass, chilling the rooms, deadening and hushing the city.  
_ —Truman Capote

The floor rippled beneath Sebastian’s feet, sending waves through the spaces around him. There was a dizzying pull inside him, like he was being ripped in every direction. He didn’t know how long it lasted- only that his lips were still on Blaine’s, the kiss tasting sweet even amidst his panic.

Then, something burst inside of him- like all the time that had been stored somewhere within him was finally gushing out. His past, his present, his impending future.

It didn’t make sense- but that was what he had felt; time. Time stopping. Time flashing by. Time pouring forth.

Time.

He opened his eyes. Sebastian found that he was no longer at the office party. And he wasn’t kissing Blaine anymore. He was alone. No, not alone. Just without Blaine. That thought hurt his heart- even as it pounded in confusion and trepidation.

The room around him was quaint, a fire was burning in the fireplace.

Sebastian slowly scanned the room and found a man looking out the window- the snow falling thick and fast beyond it. His brows furrowed. He knew the shape of the man, recognized the build, the stance. It was like looking at himself from behind.

Another man walked into the room, slightly shorter than the one by the window, his dark hair gleaming in the firelight. He moved to wrap his arms around the taller man, planting a sweet kiss on a knob of his spine. Despite the raging cold, the men barely had any clothes on- only white undershirts and a pair of matching khakis. The khakis looked like a part of a uniform, Sebastian thought. Army- but old.

Sebastian looked around the room. Everything seemed old- like it was displaced from time, a piece of history stored in a time capsule.

The men didn’t seem to notice Sebastian’s presence. They were quiet, merely looking out at the falling white specks that were blanketing the world in white that glowed pearlescent under the moonlight. Sebastian tried to move, tried to turn away, embarrassed he was invading a private intimate moment.

But then the taller man turned in the arms of his lover- and Sebastian’s heart jolted in his chest. He was looking at _him_ \- or some version of him. They were identical; Sebastian and the tall man, right down to the emerald glint dancing in their eyes in the flickering light of the fire and the slender fingers caressing his lover’s face.

Sebastian was frozen.

“Promise you’ll come back to me,” said the shorter man with the dark hair.

The other Sebastian swooped down to claim the other man’s lips, impatient yet tender. He then pulled away slowly and rather reluctantly.

“I’ll always come home to you, Blaine,” the other Sebastian breathed.

Sebastian’s heart thundered within.

Blaine.

It was then that Sebastian caught the profile of the dark-haired man in the light of the flames.

Blaine. His Blaine.

“Merry Christmas, Sebastian,” the other Blaine whispered, the words blanketing the other Sebastian’s lips like the snow outside their window.

It was the last thing Sebastian heard before the floor started rippling again. And time seemed to stop once more.

_In the space of one heartbeat to another I loved you and I was lost to you_  
— Catherynne M. Valente

In a whirling haze, time spilled out of Sebastian as it did before and he soon found himself under the shade of a plump white cloud hovering in the blue sky, shielding away the sun.

The landscape around him was green, luscious and rich- but it didn’t feel natural, like they were artificial plants in a terrarium, its colour too bright and wrong.

Laughter filled the air and Sebastian spun in search of it.

Two figures teasingly chased one another- just a few feet ahead of him. On the too-bright grass, a picnic blanket was laid out, the chequered white and red a mellow contrast against the green. A pie sat steaming in the middle, a bottle of wine rested in an ice-filled cooler and a board of cheese and grapes set to the side of it.

There was a monument a little way ahead of where Sebastian stood. It looked familiar, like it used to be a fountain of some kind. He studied the moss-covered monument for a moment, the sporophytes circling the base of it. He couldn’t rid the feeling that he had seen it somewhere before. The monument felt wrong too, like it was out of place- something old that remains despite the forward tide of time.

Something glided through the cloud above- purring quietly as Sebastian peered up. Another something whirred above. Cars, he realized. Or something that looked like cars- flying. He smiled despite the frantic galloping of his heart, amazed.

Laughter broke through his fascination.

The two men tumbled onto the picnic blanket, almost toppling the uncorked bottle of wine. But they didn’t seem to care. The man with the dark hair pinned the other man down, his shorter body barely draping the length of the lanky man beneath him.

“I win,” the dark haired man teased.

That voice. Sebastian would know it anywhere.

Blaine.

“I let you win,” the man beneath the other Blaine said as he reached a hand to card slender fingers through dark curls.

Sebastian stood paralyzed, his mind racing.

He knew that voice too. And he would know those slender fingers anywhere.

There, lying beneath another Blaine was another him.

_What was happening_ \- _where am I_ , Sebastian wondered in a daze.

Everything seemed out of place. The flying cars, the wrong-green of the grass. Even the weather felt wrong- like winter in July or summer in December. Like Australia, he thought amusedly, reminded of one of his trips there.

Or was it simply Sebastian who was out of place?

That was when something inside his mind clicked.

The monument. He knew he recognized it. It was the Bethesda Fountain, the moss still held the shape of the winged angel, it was obvious now. Only- instead of sprouting cool sprays of water, this one stood dry and was covered in the too-bright greens of the surrounding landscape.

This was a time yet to come, Sebastian deduced. The far future.

 Lilting laughter echoed around him.

The Blaine and Sebastian on the grass shared a kiss- lazy and unhurried- as if they had all the time in the world.

“Merry Christmas, Sebastian.”

The whisper from the other Blaine vibrated deafeningly, the sound rolling throughout the landscape. The ground quaked.

Sebastian fell. And he kept falling- down something endless.

Time stopped.

_Love has different shape, like this falling snow in winter_  
—Rizki De

The feeling was soft on his skin. There was a sweet, dizzying taste in his mouth. His lips were moving. It was pressing against... something. Soft. Sweet.

Suddenly, Sebastian pulled away- fast.

There was a jolt in his stomach, like he had missed that final step of the stairs, like he had been falling.

_Falling._

The world came back around him. The Christmas party. The milling colleagues.

Time caught up.

And there was Blaine, dark curls and tacky sweater, standing before him.

Sebastian was breathing hard and staring at Blaine.

What had happened to him?

In his confusion, Sebastian had failed to see the bewildered expression Blaine was wearing.

For a long while, neither of them spoke.

Sebastian’s mind whirred.

_Old. Snow. Army uniform. Picnic. Future. Blaine._

Suddenly-

“What was that?” Blaine whispered, his voice small and cautious.

Sebastian’s eyes fell on Blaine’s hands; they were trembling slightly.

_Old. Snow. Army uniform. Picnic. Future. Blaine._

_Blaine._

_Blaine. Kiss._

Then, it dawned on him that he had yanked himself away from kissing Blaine.

Shit.

Sebastian stammered, an apology tripping on his tongue. He never meant to offend Blaine.

“I didn’t mean- I was just-”

“No-” Blaine said, shaking his head.

“No?”

“I-”

“What?”

Blaine reached to grasp at the doorframe, steadying himself against it.

“I saw... _you_. I saw... _us_.”

The racing thuds of Sebastian’s heart increased at Blaine’s words.

Thoughts sprinted through his mind. _Snow. Army uniform. Picnic. Future. Blaine._

Words failed him, his tongue too heavy with questions. Did what happen to him happen to Blaine too? What _had_ happened?

“Snow,” was all Sebastian said.

Blaine’s warm eyes sparkled. “Christmas.”

“You,” he said, the floor feeling solid again.

Blaine reached for him. “Us.”

_Us._

_Us- what a beautiful word,_ Sebastian thought _._

And that was when he knew, he understood. It didn’t make sense, he thought- but he understood.

The pull of Blaine, even his mere name on paper. The voice urging _go, you must go_ tonight.

Sebastian pulled Blaine close, studying the man’s face like he was seeing him for the first time.

_Us._

In every ripple of time- the past, the present or the future- it would always be Blaine with the dark hair and Sebastian with the slender fingers.

It would always be Blaine and Sebastian- and it made all the sense in the world.

\---END

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> Comments welcomed.


End file.
